Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/625735
20 commercial carrier journal | january 2016 Marketpulse T he following information is obtained from the November 2015 CCJ Market- Pulse Report, a survey of more than 200 senior executives at trucking companies who have agreed to participate monthly. The No- vember 2015 MarketPulse Report received 80 completed responses from carrier executives. If you would like to participate in the MarketPulse survey, please email Jeff Crissey at jcrissey@randallreilly.com. November soft, future unclear Respondents indicated eroding business conditions, with 29.1 percent saying November was worse than October and 24.1 percent saying business conditions will be worse in the next six months. 35.4 percent of respondents said business should be better over the same term. 50 percent of respondents from carriers with up to 100 power units said business conditions will be better, compared to only 29.1 percent of respondents from carriers with more than 100 power units 0% 60% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Much worse Better Much better More than 100 power units Up to 100 power units Overall Worse Same 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 5.40 in November b e s T M O N T h e v e R w O R s T M O N T h e v e R Carrier sentiment down in November The Carrier sentiment Index for November was 5.40 – down from 5.45 recorded in October. The index assesses the month on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the carrier's worst month and 10 being the best. The index level for carriers with more than 100 power units was 5.6 (5.49 in October), while the level for those with up to 100 power units was 5.00 (5.35 in October). sOuRCe: CCJ MaRkeTPulse RePORT Driver availability concerns erode even though it comes in at No. 1 again, fewer respondents list driver availability as a top concern, continuing an ongoing trend in 2015. Meanwhile, freight volume (27.3 percent) continues to grow as the second-biggest concern, with 32.1 percent of respondents from carriers with more than 100 power units listing it as a top concern compared to 16.7 percent of respondents from carriers with up to 100 power units. Driver availability Regulation Freight volume 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Other Freight pricing 1 = wORsT 10 = besT Small fleets looking to add equipment 34.2 percent of respondents in November said they were looking to grow their fleets, while 44.3 percent indicated they were buying equipment to replace aging equipment. 50 percent of respondents from carriers with up to 100 power units are more likely to grow fleet size, compared to only 27.3 percent of respondents from larger carriers. In the next 6 months, we plan to: Up to 100 more than 100 overall power UnIts power UnIts Increase the size of our fleet 34.2% 50.0% 27.3% Replace aging equipment but keep fleet size the same 44.3% 37.5% 47.3% Decrease the size of our fleet 1.2% 0.0% 1.8% Make no change in our fleet 20.3% 12.5% 23.6% I am concerned about some softness we're seeing in the load volumes from a few customers. It isn't across the board but still a bit trouble- some if the softness should spread. – November 2015 CCJ MarketPulse respondent CCJ MarketPulse is brought to you by Shell Rotella. Business forecasts for the next 6 months Carrier top concerns